December 2006 - AGC's Holloway Discusses Upcoming Session
By Mandi Harding, FCA Executive Director

“Who here has ever testified before a legislative committee?” AGC Executive Vice President Steve Holloway asked attendees at November’s Framing Contractors Association.

Only one hand went up as Holloway circled through guest’s tables.

Holloway noted that the key to effective government affairs representation is a united industry, plain and simple.

“Legislators do not possess time in a 120-day session to chase down segments of industry to seek a consensus on industry legislation. This is reality. Therefore legislators will move forward expeditiously on bills where unanimity has been established,” said Holloway. “That is why the relationship that AGC has fostered with the Framing Contractors Association and its other two affiliate associations, the National Association of Women in Construction and the National Association of Minority Contractors has become so vital.”

Holloway then detailed specific bill draft requests that AGC has written and submitted in preparation of the 2007 session.

Permitting Construction Manager at Risk as an alternate contract delivery method for public works is an AGC priority Holloway said.

“CMAR is not new to the industry and is already extensively used in private projects. We are one of the few remaining states that has not allowed this type of project delivery for public works projects,” Holloway said. “Most general contractors today are construction managers because they do not self-perform, but manage the project through the subcontractors. With CMAR, the construction manager accepts responsibility for that particular project and getting it done on time and within budget. This delivery method will be effective in eliminating catastrophes like we experienced with the Regional Justice Center.”

Holloway said AGC will have unanimity on this bill.

“But there are others where we won’t. One of these is oversized loads. We struck a compromise with southern Nevada public entities in 2005, but Clark County has not complied. We are forced now to take away its authority in respect to this issue,” Holloway said.

Perhaps of greatest interest to the attendees is the AGC-written bill on retention, Holloway said.

“It basically says two things: 1. When you complete your work as a framer and the final inspection occurs and passes allowing other trades to move on atop your work, you are entitled to your retention. The FCA has had numerous framers with upwards of $800,000 a year being withheld after they have completed work on various projects, even worse, this is usually your profit margin. 2. The bill addresses indemnity, specifically disallowing Type I Indemnity, which requires a contractor or a subcontractor to assume the liability for the negligent acts of the owner or for the defective design, materials or workmanship provided by others with whom the contractor or subcontractor has no contractual relationship. A Type I indemnity provision might, for example, require the roofer to assume liability for defects created by the plumber.

“I sat through your luncheon earlier this year with the three-member panel of district court judges who said they are keeping you in construction defect lawsuits because of Type I Indemnity,” said Holloway.

Holloway said he believes there are three legs to the stool holding the pot of gold for construction defect attorneys: Extrapolation, class action status and Type 1 Indemnity.

Holloway said the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and the Nevada Subcontractors Association are both on board to seek passage of this FCA bill.

Holloway made a few predictions about the upcoming session and entertained the audience with his candid discussion and at times disgust with November’s election results nationally, statewide and locally.

Holloway was born and reared in Montana and graduated from Portland State University in Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1969. He received a Juris Doctorate from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College in 1973. Holloway was a human resources manager from 1969 to 1979. He then entered a private law practice specializing in labor law from 1979 to 1981.

In 1981, he accepted a position with Freeport McMoran, Inc. and for the next 11 years, he served as vice president of human resources and vice president of administration at various divisions in Carlsbad, New Mexico, Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Elko, Nevada. In 1992, he was promoted to corporate vice president of industrial relations for Minorco (USA), headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Minorco had purchased its mining division from Freeport-McMoran, Inc.

In 1996 Holloway and his wife, Claudia, moved to Las Vegas to accept his current position as executive vice president of the Associated General Contractors, Las Vegas Chapter.

Under Holloway’s leadership, membership in the local AGC has more than tripled, making the Las Vegas chapter one of the fastest growing in the nation. In his current position, Holloway has been instrumental in crafting bills on contractor pre-qualification, local bidders’ preference, lien law and construction litigation reform and other legislation that has been critical to competitive fairness for Nevada’s contractors.